What to Expect From President Trump’s Domestic Agenda This Year
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What were Trump's major accomplishments in his first year of the second term?
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Hey, What's News listeners. It's Sunday, January 11th. I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.
How do economic concerns influence Trump's domestic agenda for 2026?
On today's show, what we can expect this year from the Trump administration's domestic agenda.
Protect and defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations.
Since starting his second term, President Trump has been busy. His policies have upended global trade and relationships with foreign leaders. Trump kicked off the year with an aggressive operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro.
What role do tariffs play in Trump's economic strategy this year?
But for many Americans, it's Trump's domestic agenda that's top of mind. They're worried about a softening job market and high prices, which could play a major role in this year's midterm elections. So what does 2026 have in store? I chatted with WSJ White House reporter Natalie Andrews and Washington coverage chief Damian Palletta about the president's domestic priorities and their political predictions for the year ahead. Natalie, what was the mood in the White House wrapping up 2025?
The White House folks around Donald Trump, they feel like they've had a great year. So they're coming off of the first year and then looking forward to concerns that voters are having about affordability and how they confront that.
Damian, what's your sense of the vibe in Washington more broadly and of how voters are feeling?
Well, it was an incredibly consequential year for President Trump. He accomplished a tremendous amount.
How is Trump's approach to affordability affecting voters' perceptions?
Whether voters supported it or didn't, no one could argue that he didn't have a huge impact, whether it was on tax cuts and tariffs he imposed and immigration changes that he was able to get through without much from Congress. So what we'll be watching for in 2026 is whether he is going to be able to sell this to voters in the midterms. He's not... typically a great midterm election campaigner because he's not on the ballot. It's harder for him to sell other people than it is for him to sell himself. And so we're going to be watching really closely to see whether these kind of poor poll numbers that he has right now can improve in 2026 or whether the way he's been running his presidency turned enough voters off and enough independent voters off that Republicans really feel the brunt of it as we get later into 2026.
One of the things that Trump did in 2025 was, of course, tariffs. He made this a key part of his economic policy. And at least so far, it seems like the economic impact has been less than what a lot of people had feared back at Liberation Day in April. Damian, what can we expect from Trump this year on tariffs?
What is the significance of Trump's relationship with the private sector?
Well, he says his favorite word in English language is tariffs. I don't expect that to change in 2026. He might not have all the tools legally that he had in 2025, but he still will find ways to impose tariffs because it just gives him a tremendous amount of leverage over other countries. The question is, if prices are going up for consumers in 2026, does he feel pressure on his own to kind of dial it back? Otherwise, you know, Republicans could be really in for it in November.
Damian, Natalie mentioned affordability. It sounds like it's unsettling voters. And at the end of 2025, Trump made a couple of speeches addressing this. What can he actually do about this issue?
Well, making prices lower can feel like putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What were Trump's major accomplishments in his first year of the second term?
0:02–0:50
2
How do economic concerns influence Trump's domestic agenda for 2026?
0:50–1:23
3
What role do tariffs play in Trump's economic strategy this year?
1:23–2:21
4
How is Trump's approach to affordability affecting voters' perceptions?
2:21–3:25
5
What is the significance of Trump's relationship with the private sector?
3:25–4:10
6
How might immigration policies evolve under Trump's administration in 2026?
4:10–5:05
7
What impact does the situation in Venezuela have on U.S. immigration policy?
5:05–6:12
8
What predictions can be made about Trump's political strategies for the midterms?
6:12–10:47
Speakers
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